Cincinnati Zoo researcher wins international conservation award
Plant research director receives prestigious recognition for endangered species work
CINCINNATI (WXIX) - Conservation is a pillar of operations at the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden. Recently, their work has received international recognition.
Dr. Valerie Pence, the director of plant research at the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden, received the Ulysses S. Seal Award for Innovation in Conservation.
The award is given out every other year to an individual who has made incredible strides in saving endangered plants or animals.
“I will say, it’s always great to see plants get some focus in conservation because so much of the focus is on animals,” Dr. Pence said. “So, I’m really thrilled that this award is now including plants in their thought.”
She was the first to receive this award for plant-related conservation efforts.
Her work in cryopreservation and the frozen garden led the way to her nomination.
Cryopreservation is meant for plants that struggle to survive the drying and freezing of traditional seed banking.
Experts can take endangered plant cells from the Frozen Garden and eventually help restore that endangered plant back out in the wild.
“We’ve conserved pollen, spores, and then many other kinds of tissues from our tissue culture lines that we start,” Dr. Pence said. “And that’s where we grow plant materials in test tubes and take little bits of those tissues and then cryopreserve those.”
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